Copying Dish archived movies on external HDD to PC

[jdw_itguy]

I have DISH Network. I installed an external HDD to archive movies to so that I would have more DVR space. I would really like to be able to copy movies off of the HDD to a PC, burn them to a backup disk, or just view on a PC. When I installed the HDD on the Dish system, it made me reformat the disk for what DIsh requires. If I connect the HDD to a PC, it does not show up in the list of drives to explore. Disk Manager shows the disk with no format listed. Is there a solution, or am I at a dead end?

 

[Falcon5850]

You wont be able to do that, even if it saw the drive the data is encrypted and wont be viewable on a PC or after burning to an optical disk.

 

[jdw_itguy]

You wont be able to do that, even if it saw the drive the data is encrypted and wont be viewable on a PC or after burning to an optical disk.

Thanks for your response. I was afraid of that. Maybe there's another option for copying these to another media. VHS would suck, but maybe I could do something like connect a VCR between the Dish receiver and the TV. Then I might be able to record that video being fed thru the VCR to the TV? The goal really is to have multiple copies of things that I really don't want to lose. The ability to watch them somewhere else would be a plus.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Then perhaps you should actually buy the movies. While you can certainly store movies for as long as your equipment allows, if the purpose of the equipment was to allow folks to circumvent having to purchase movies or shows by simply recording the broadcasts and keeping them forever, the equipment would never have remained legal. Dish probably had to make the external storage incompatible on some level with standard PC equipment to prevent legal issues stemming from piracy.

While you can run your equipment through a VCR, there are analog methods such as messing with the AGC on the VCR which can make your copied movies less than desirable to watch.

 

[Falcon5850]

yeah, since this is encrypted digital data, you need to record what you see, so basically its record after the Dish unencrypt and pushes out a video port. What you can do is use a fraps box or the same type of equipment that gamers use to record videos for youtube. Your most cost effective option is prob a video capture card for your PC. It will be time consuming because you have to play real time as you record.

 

[jdw_itguy]

You wont be able to do that, even if it saw the drive the data is encrypted and wont be viewable on a PC or after burning to an optical disk.

Then perhaps you should actually buy the movies. While you can certainly store movies for as long as your equipment allows, if the purpose of the equipment was to allow folks to circumvent having to purchase movies or shows by simply recording the broadcasts and keeping them forever, the equipment would never have remained legal. Dish probably had to make the external storage incompatible on some level with standard PC equipment to prevent legal issues stemming from piracy.

While you can run your equipment through a VCR, there are analog methods such as messing with the AGC on the VCR which can make your copied movies less than desirable to watch.

Excellent point. While I said "movies," I really only meant video in general. Any movies that I would want that bad, I would buy the DVD and be done with it. Anything like a live concert, or the "game of the century" that isn't available to buy, are things that I would want a backup copy for my own personal use. Obviously these are within copyright laws. I'm a programmer, and I definitely believe in protecting the property rights of what someone develops.

 

[jdw_itguy]

You wont be able to do that, even if it saw the drive the data is encrypted and wont be viewable on a PC or after burning to an optical disk.

Then perhaps you should actually buy the movies. While you can certainly store movies for as long as your equipment allows, if the purpose of the equipment was to allow folks to circumvent having to purchase movies or shows by simply recording the broadcasts and keeping them forever, the equipment would never have remained legal. Dish probably had to make the external storage incompatible on some level with standard PC equipment to prevent legal issues stemming from piracy.

While you can run your equipment through a VCR, there are analog methods such as messing with the AGC on the VCR which can make your copied movies less than desirable to watch.

Excellent point. While I said "movies," I really only meant video in general. Any movies that I would want that bad, I would buy the DVD and be done with it. Anything like a live concert, or the "game of the century" that isn't available to buy, are things that I would want a backup copy for my own personal use. Obviously these are within copyright laws. I'm a programmer, and I definitely believe in protecting the property rights of what someone develops.

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Actually, copyright case law says, if you record it so you don't have to buy it, you are violating copyright law. If the show is not for sale, send the copyright holder a check for the market value and issue yourself a compulsory license, and you can stay within the law.

Helping folks circumvent copyright restrictions is against forum policy, Falcon5850.

Movies was a generalization meant to express the overall point. 🙂

In the future, you might look into the possibility of a cable-card TV tuner for a computer, for shows you plan to keep. You would need to investigate if you can get a cable-card from your Dish supplier, but it would allow you the full flexibility of having the programming in a PC friendly format.

 

[USAFRet]

Some similar applications provide a method to move video from the DVR to a PC. Tivo, for instance.

Dish doesn't.

 

[jdw_itguy]

Actually, copyright case law says, if you record it so you don't have to buy it, you are violating copyright law. If the show is not for sale, send the copyright holder a check for the market value and issue yourself a compulsory license, and you can stay within the law..

Point taken. In the future, I'll be sure to consult my attorney before I hit that record button on my VCR, and I certainly encourage everyone to do the same. Thanks for your help.